Islamic Jihad urges Arab front against US 'deal of century' on Palestine

White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, background, smiles as he watches US President Donald Trump, left, talk with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House in Washington, the United States, on March 25, 2019. (Photo by Reuters)

Palestinian resistance movement Islamic Jihad has demanded the formation of a unified Arab front to counter US President Donald Trump’s controversial proposal for peace between Israel and the Palestinians, dubbed “the deal of the century.”

“We reject the idea of establishing a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip or outside the enclave, whatever the cost may be. We also reject the relocation of the Palestinian people and an alternative homeland,” the movement said in a statement released on Thursday.

“Recognition of Israel is a threat to identity and the existence of the Arab and Muslim world. Normalization is an instrument to pass the deal of the century, plunder national wealth, create internal hostilities among people from various walks of life, and deepen sectarian divisions.

“We reject any proposal that would affect the unity of the Arab lands, and demand preservation of the unity and integrity of Arab countries to confront the serious repercussions of the deal of the century, which is aimed at tearing up and dividing the (Middle East) region and re-drawing its maps according to the American colonial vision,” the statement pointed out.

Nabil Shaath, international relations advisor to the Palestinian president, speaks to reporters in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. (File photo)

Meanwhile, Nabil Shaath, international relations advisor to the Palestinian president, said on Thursday that Palestinians will launch a campaign to confront the "deal of the century."

The campaign will target “the crime and conspiracy that aim at liquidating the Palestinian cause under the so-called deal of century,” Shaath told the official Voice of Palestine radio station.

He added, “We've seen this plan advancing through the US recognition of al-Quds (Jerusalem) as Israel's capital, disregarding the Palestinian refugees’ issue, and recognizing Israeli settlements and Israel's sovereignty over the Golan Heights.”

“All steps taken by Trump proved that the deal is nothing but a conspiracy to terminate the Palestinian cause,” Shaath noted.

Trump’s so-called “peace plan” has been dismissed by Palestinian authorities before its unveiling at the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan and the formation of the new Israeli cabinet, most likely in June.

Shtayyeh noted that negotiations with the US are useless in the wake of the country’s relocation of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds, which Palestinians consider the capital city of their future state.